Stapling machine



Sept. 3,1940. w A$TLE 2,213,691

STAPLING MACHINE Filed Sept. 16, 1938 INVENTOR. CHESTER 14 CASTLE A TTORNE Y.

Patented Sept. 3, 1940 UNITED STATES STAPLING MACHINE Chester W. C'astle, Caldwell, N. J., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Radio Corporation of America, New York, N. Y, a corporation of Delaware Application September 16, 1938, SerialNo. 230,177

6 Claims.

My invention relates to stapling, wire stitching or fastener applying machines, and particularly to machines for inserting staples through the rim of a disc.

Stapling machines fed by hand are dangerous to the operator, especially when the pieces to be stapled are small and when the fingers of the operator must be held close to the reciprocating stapling jaws of the machine. The usual pneumatic devices for feeding the material to be stapled do not positively hold the material or permit accurate placement of the staples.

An object of myinvention is a machine for inserting wire or ribbon staples in small discs and improved means for feeding the discs to the staple applying mechanism.

Another and more specific object of my invention is a machine for automatically applying a number of accurately place staples to the periph- 20 ery of a small disc, the machine being easy to feed and safe to operate.

The characteristic features of my invention are defined with particularity in the appended claims and one embodiment is described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a disc with one type of staple applied by my improved machine,

30 Figure 2 is a detailed view of my novel disc carrier in the loading and the stapling positions, Figures 3 and 4 are side and partly sectioned views of the staple driver and clincher of my improved stapling machine, Figure 5 is' a perspective and partly sectioned View of my disc carrier and means for intermittently rotating and swinging the carrier, and

Figure 6 is a side view of my improved stapling machine.

I In Figure l is shown a disc I with four staples, 2, uniformly spaced around the periphery of the disc. One leg of the staple chosen for illustration is curved downwardly and away from the face of the disc. Discs of this type, usually of mica or 45' similar insulating material, are commonly perforated and employed to receive and insulatingly space the ends of the side rods and extensions of electrodes in radio tubes, as disclosed in the United States Patent 2,113,952 to Sternberg. 50 Theelectrode assembly with the disc is inserted in the tube envelope, the plane of the disc being normal to the axis of the envelope to bring the depending legs of the staples into engagement 55 withv the sides of the envelope and firmly but re siliently hold the disc and attached electrodes centrally in the tube.

Each disc is loaded in the machine by being placed on an intermittently rotatable and bodily movable carrier on which the disc is held preferably by small upstanding lugs that engage holes in the disc. When the operator presses a motor control push-button or motor clutch, a cycle of operations begins in which the rim of the disc is carried into position between the driver and clincher or anvil of a staple applying mechanism, where a staple is driven'and' clinched, the carrier rotated to position the disc for the next staple, and so on until completed, whereupon the carrier returns to its loading position, where it comes to rest and an ejectorv removes the stapled disc. A second disc may then be placed on the carrier, the push button pressed and the cycle .of operationsrepeate'd.

The intermittentlyrotatable and bodily movable carrier 3 comprises an oblong plate joined to the upperend of an intermittently rotatable shaft 4 and having on its upper surface near its ends two short upstanding lugs 5 that engage holes 6 in the disc. In the'loa'ding position the carrier is inclined as'shown. in dotted lines in Figure 2 and is swung into an upright position to bring the edge of the'disc between the driver I and anvil or clincher member 8 of the stapling machine. Here the carrier makes one complete revolution in four equal steps and is then returned to the loading position.

Means for swinging-the carrier from loading to stapling position and out again comprises a frame 9 reciprocally pivoted on drive shaft l journalled in' stationary parallel space arms of the machine mount. The frame carries the mechanism for intermittently rotating the carrier and is reciprocated inwardly and outwardly by cam l l carrying on its irregular periphery a roller l2 attached to an arm or integral extension of the frame. The top of the frame is biased to the left, Figure 5, by spring [3 to keep the roller against the cam. The cam is driven by the drive shaft through gear wheel I4 and pinion l5, and to insure concomitant movement of the swinging frame and stapling mechanism, the drive shaft is coupled through chain pulley IE to a source of-power common to all driven partsof-the machine. While a disc is being placed on carrier- 3, the gears are all, stationary and the roller I2 rests ononeof the two high points of the cam. The gear ratio of pinion l and Wheel [4 are so chosen that thecam makes one-half revolution for each cycle of stapling operations.

Each disc is given one complete revolution in four intermittent steps, the intermittent rotational movement being provided preferably with a conventional Geneva movement mechanism mounted on the reciprocating frame 9 and comprising a starwheel I! with alternate slots and arcuate locking surfaces which slidably bear against the periphery of the stepping wheel l8. For each revolution of the stepping wheel and its crank IS the starwheel moves one-quarter of a revolution. The stepping wheel is geared to the drive shaft with beveled gears 20 whose ratio is chosen, in the embodiment shown, to revolve the disc carrier through one complete revolution for four revolutions of the drive shaft and for each one-half revolution of the cam.

To accurately adjust the position of the rim of the disc between the staple driving and clinching members, adjustable stud bolts 2| in the four sides of the starwheel are arranged to abut the head of the bolt 22 screwed in a depending extension on the stationary machine mount. Each stud bolt head is the same distance from the center of the starwheel and thus insures insertion of the staples a uniform distance from the periphery of the disc. Should it be desired, however, that, say, two of the staples be placed a greater or lesser distance from the periphery of the disc it would be merely necessary to adjust inwardly or outwardly the two corresponding stud bolts. Ifthere is insufiicient bevel on the heads of the stud bolts to permit them to slide into end-on engagement with the stationary bolt head, slight risers may be provided on cam I I to swing frame 9 out a few degrees during. the indexing of the starwheel.

For removing the finished disc at the end of each cycle of operation ejector 23 recessed in the top of the carrier is fixed to the upper end of shaft or. push rod 24 longitudinally slidable through the center'of the carrier and its shaft 4. To the lower end of the ejector rod is attached pin 25 radially extending through a longitudinal slot in shaft 4 and is raised by a short inclined surface or. cam 26 on the topof the stepping wheel. As the disc carrier moves outwardly from the stapler at the conclusion of one cycle of the stapling operations the pin 25 rides upon the cam surface moving rod 24 and ejector 23 upward, flipping the finished disc from the carrier, the stepping wheel and its cam being rotated just sufficiently topermit the ejector to drop either by gravity or spring bias to its initial position flush with the surface of the carrier.

The staples applied to the disc may be of the conventional" type wtih each end driven through the stapled material and clinched, or may be of the type shown where only one of the staple legs is clinched, the other end hanging over the edge of the disc with a slight outward and downward curve normal to the plane of the disc. Wire for the staple is unreeled from the spool 21, Figure 6, and'is drawn into the upper head of the stapling machine where it is cut into short lengths and given two bends to form a U, the legs of the U extending downwardly in slots in conventional guide bars 28, Figures 3 and 4, one leg 29' of the U preferably being slightly longer than the other leg 30. The short leg of the staple is forced through the disc by driver bar 1, deflected and clinched on the upper clinching surface of anvil 8, the other leg of the staple sliding over the edge of the disc and between anvil 8 and forming die 3|. As clincher anvil 8 is moved upwardly by cam 32, driver 1 moves downwardly, the two meeting opposite the top of the forming die, the side of the anvil pressing the long leg of the staple against the forming die to bend the wire into the desired shape.

The vertical reciprocation of the anvil 3 by cam 32 may conveniently be timed so that the anvil is in a lowered'position to clear the depending leg of the staple as it is revolved with the disc out of position. Preferably the clincher anvil is carried on a slide with V guide ways and is reciprocated by the small eccentric cam 32 driven through a shaft geared directly to the stapling head driving mechanism. Shafts with bevel gears for interconnecting the staple driver and anvil cam are shown in dotted lines in Figure 6. A spring may be employed to keep the anvil slid against its cam.

My improved wire stitching or fastener applying machine is easy to feed and safe to operate. Discs placed on the loading device of the machine are carried into the fastener applying mechanism and are there rotated in intermittent steps to receive uniformly spaced and accurately placed staples along their peripheries. Although there has been described specific means for accurately applying staples to small discs, it is evident that various changes both in the details of construction and in form and relation of the parts thereof may readily be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. It is accordingly desired that my invention be limited only by the prior art and the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A staple applying device comprising a staple driverand a clincher anvil with a staple clinchinch surface in registry with said driver fordriving and clinching one leg of a U-shaped staple in sheet material, a forming. die with a forming surface of predetermined shape opposite the side of said anvil, means for moving the side of said anvil with respect to the forming surface of said forming die in synchronism with the staple driver to form the other leg of the staple downwardly normal to the plane of the material and to press said other leg of the staple into said predetermined shape; 'a carrier for moving the material into and out of stapling position between said driver and said clincher; and means for rotating said carrier and material step-by-step during stapling operations.

2. In combination a staple applying device comprising a staple driver and clincher means, a frame pivoted to reciprocatingly swing in a limited arc, driving means moving in synchronism with said staple applying device to swing said frame, an upwardly extending shaft in said frame, means to intermittently rotate said shaft driven by said driving means, and a carrier for disc material to be staple mounted on the upper end of said shaft for holding said material between said driver and clincher during stapling operations. 7

3. In combination a staple applying device with a vertically driven staple driver and a clincher, a horizontal shaft below said staple applying device driven by the driving means of said device, a unitary frame journalled on said shaft, a cam driven through gears by said shaft, an extension of said frame riding on said cam to rotationally oscillate said frame as the cam rotates, a work supporting carrier rotatably mounted on a second shaft extending upwardly from said frame and carried on said frame into cooperative registry with said driver and clincher, and means driven by the first mentioned shaft for rotating said carrier step-by-step in timed relation with the staple applying mechanism.

4. A staple applying device with a staple driver and clincher, a first shaft below said device driven by the driving means for said device, a frame journalled on said shaft, means to rotationally oscillate said frame as said shaft rotates, a carrier on the upper part of said frame for carrying materal into registry with said driver and clincher, said carrier comprising a plate with upstanding lugs for frictionally engaging and gripping the material to be stapled, a second shaft extending upwardly through the frame and joined to the under side of the carrier plate, an ejector comprising a push rod slidable through the center of said second shaft and bearing at its upper end against material carried on said carrier, and means driven by said first shaft for rotating said carrier step-by-step, and for sliding said push rod in timed relation with the oscillations of the frame.

5. In combination a staple applying device with a staple driver for driving one leg of a U- shaped staple through the rim of a disc, and a clincher for clinching said one leg and for form ing the other leg downwardly over the edge of the disc normal to the plane of the disc, a rotatai318 carrier for supporting said disc, means for indexing the carrier to rotationally advance dif- ,ferent portions of the rim of the disc into position to receive the staples, the indexing means being drivenv step-by-step in timed relation with the staple driver and clincher, the driver and clincher being retracted while the disc with clinched staples and the downwardly extending staple legs is rotated.

6. A staple applying device with a vertically driven staple driver and clincher, a drive shaft, a frame journalled on said shaft, a cam driven through gears by said shaft, an extension of said frame riding on said cam to rotationally oscillate said frame as the shaft rotates, a Geneva movement on said frame with a stepping wheel and a starwheel, a carrier on the frame for carrying material into registry with said staple driver and clincher, and a shaft joined at its ends to said starwheel and to the carrier, the stepping wheel being positively driven by said drive shaft.

CHESTER W. CASTLE. 

